


Switching is Painful

by sorayume



Series: Switching [1]
Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Body Dysphoria, Body Swap, Canon Divergence, Gen, Identity Swap, Inspired by Kimi no Na wa. | Your Name., Inspired by the Mandolorian, Interrogation, Skywalker Family Drama, Torture, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:41:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorayume/pseuds/sorayume
Summary: Luke SkyWalker has a long term problem. Sometimes. Against his will he and a strange Princess from a far away place switch bodies. At first he thought these switch’s were odd dreams, yet over the years they have become commonplace.It has been a few years since the last switch though, and Luke thought it was over. Until one day a switch happens and he finds inside in a small cell alone and cold.(Aka, what if Luke and Leia switched bodies and Luke woke in Leia’s body before he was interrogated by Darth Vader)
Relationships: Leia Organa & Darth Vader, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Series: Switching [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2040933
Comments: 20
Kudos: 67





	Switching is Painful

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DotColorful](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DotColorful/gifts).



It was happening again. Luke hated when this happened but also sorta looked forwards to it. It really broke up the dull monotony of his farm boy life. One moment he would be living his basic Tatooine Farmboy life, the next… well the next he was having a good old time of it as a Princess from a fancy planet. Her name was Leia, and he had no clue why she and he switched places, but it started when they were ten and happened randomly since then. He couldn’t figure out WHY it happened and neither could she. They had left each other notes over time, injected in the lives of the other, and living their best lives in the shoes of another. For Luke, it always meant going someplace refreshing and cool, sleeping in silk sheets, never anything stressful. She was a Princess! What kind of stress could she live in. 

Honestly, it had been a few years since the last one. He had thought he had grown out of it, had begun to think it was some sort of dream? An illusion he had dreamed up to break up the monotony of his daily life. But there the telltale headache and burning in his mind, the Sharp pinch that drove him to close his eyes, eyes that always opened as hers after this. Blinking his eyes open he was surprised to find himself in a dark metal room, sitting on a metal bench. “What in the world?” He muttered under his breath. This was NOT what he was expecting. Looking down he saw himself in Leia’s normal whites but the dress was dirtier than normal. Odd.

Jumping to his feet he strode to the door to see what was going on, only to realize, there were no door controls? He pushed at the door and nothing happened. It was solid. Running his fingers over the hard surface looking for any cracks in the surface, he started at the top. Her fingers were so soft, not covered in callouses like his were. Her nails were immaculate. Being a girl sure seemed like a lot of work to look lovely. Luke sometimes envied girls, they were allowed to spend time working to look their best, shopping for cute clothing, twisting their hair into braids and buns. Leia had twisted hers into two MASSIVE buns over her ears. She must be growing it out because her hair felt heavier than it had last. 

As his hand was straying down the door, the door suddenly pulled up. He thought he had found some sort of secret button to open it but it opened to reveal a dark figure. A monstrously tall creature in black armor, with a helmeted head, that was breathing in hissing sounds through strange vents in a mask. A gloved hand caught his… her wrist where it had been feeling at the door. “You know escape is not an option your highness.” A deep voice boomed, the fist closing tighter around hers. Luke took a step back as the creature pushed in. Was it a man? Well yes, Luke felt like it was a man. 

He felt himself quiver slightly under the creature's grasp and attempted to jerk her wrist away from the man and tried a glare. Her glares always seemed to work better than his, as though the fire in the owner of the body's soul still shone through even when the consciousness of the much softer Luke Skywalker was inside it. All of her friends always commented when he first started switching that she seemed more timid and asked if she was ok. He had to be brave, and sassy! Just like this Leia was. “I don’t know why you have me here but this is Kriffen not cool. Lemmi go! I am a Princess you have to treat me like one! I demand to speak to my father right now! You are going to be in deep bantha poodoo.” He sassed in her voice.

The man in black, who had not even introduced himself took a step closer, still holding her wrist. He was incredibly tall and Luke felt small and tried his best to not have a full-on panic attack as the creature loomed over him. The vibrating and wheezing sounds of his breath echoed through her small fragile body. Luke was starting to realize just how small-boned Leia was, how physically weak, how very… breakable. Her entire body was trembling under the Dark monster.

“You know well your Highness that you are no innocent. Despite your untoward language and feeling driven slip into speaking like a petulant slavers child, we will be discussing other matters.” Luke’s eyes widened and he took a step back and tripped onto the cot in the room. The man in black thrust him dismissively as he fell and thus he crashed haphazardly against the wall. Leia’s body crumbled from the pain, her thin shoulder blades bruising from the impact and a wave of pain traveling through her.

“It is time to discuss the location of your Rebel base”

A hovering black ball covered in small appendages full of knives and holding forth a syringe floated into the room. For some reason the beeps it was producing as it flew seemed menacing, as the creature flew in the door behind it slammed shut. He was alone in this small cell with a menacing black monstrosity and that circular flying demon. 

This felt like a horribly terrible time to be switched with Leia. What the hell had she gotten herself into? She seemed to live a pretty docile life the last few times he had been in her body. Dinner parties, school lessons, riding elegant flying creatures with companions. Yet here he was, being called a Rebel! As if. He was quite sure Leia was NOT part of the Rebellion. So he retried “I don’t know what you are talking about! I am a Princess, not a Rebel. I should be in my palace with my people. I demand you return me to my home at once you villainous monster!”

He almost looked taken aback by what Luke had said, was he saying something particularly unrealistic? His helmet jerked back a tiny bit. With a growl, he corrected her. “You are repeating yourself, literally line for line at times, what are you hiding?” He demanded.

 _Kriff_ Luke considered to himself, how could he know what else he had said, he knew next to nothing about Leia’s life in the last few years. “L…look, mister, I don’t know who you are or what you want with me. But what you are doing is against Imperial law, r….right!?” He tried to sound confident but his stuttering threw off that desire. He steeled himself. Trying to imagine himself back in his body, pushing every bit of the reality around him away, trying to isolate himself from this plight that was beginning to feel more and more like a nightmare than anything else.

Swiftly the creature loomed closer and leaned down, grabbed Leia’s chin, and forced Luke to look through her eyes into his. Behind the red panes, Luke could just make out angry yellow eyes squinted in anger and mistrust at him. “What is wrong with you Leia, you are not the girl I have met before.” He growled. 

Luke’s breath was caught in his throat and he tried incredibly hard to focus on being Leia and responding the way she would. He thought with with all his might _I am Princess Leia, I am Princess Leia, I am pri….. Luke I mean Leia. Agggg I am so scared, Kriff this creature is right in my face staring at me his eyes are so scary ummmmm I am Luke...Leia. I’m Princess Leia I am Luke Skywalker Kriff I mean I am Leia AHhhhhh._

The hand holding his chin dropped suddenly and the eyes staring through the mask looked shocked . “WHAT!?” He shouted thrusting Luke back against the wall and rising up to his full height. “You will answer all my questions or you will suffer you petulant welp! Let us start again then. WHO are you?”

Luke rolled his eyes. How could this creature not know, he was a PRINCESS! Didn’t everyone know nobility? “Alright alright yeeeeesh, could have just asked, I am Princess Leia, how about you? Who are you Mr? Bot?” Luke quipped before he thought too hard. 

This time the man WAS taken aback, he stepped back in surprise at Luke’s apparently henous lack of knowledge of badly ventilated androids. “You DARE act as though you do not know me!? Tell me, girl, are you a clone? A decoy perhaps?! Where is the actual Princess?” 

“Um. Nope, I am none of those things, just me Princess Leia. Again, I really don’t know who you are, maybe I hit my head a little hard. It’s slipping my mind.”

The dark man's fist curled aggressively and then released. “It is of no matter, soon you will be begging for me to ask questions for you to answer. Begging for release from this life. But I assure you…. REBEL. You WILL answer me.” The man gave a jerk of his wrist and the droid started coming forward. It’s beeping growing louder.

Luke was terrified in the shadow of the Interrogative man as the droid approached. Whatever was in that syringe wasn’t good. He didn’t know much of anything about the way that this type of situation played out, but by what he was feeling in his gut it was going to be the worst feeling of his life. He yelled, Leia’s scream feeling foreign to him as it was so high pitched and thrust her arms out trying to bat the droid away in fear as it drew closer. Suddenly the circular droid flew across the cell and smashed into the far wall.

Her mouth dropped and the interrogator spun to look at the damaged droid then back at her. His gloved hand raised and she felt her throat suddenly contracting. Luke flailed in her body as it was slowly raised up off the ground and the pressure around his neck tightened “WHO TAUGHT YOU HOW TO USE THE FORCE” he demanded.

Everything was shrinking in around her body and he was scared. He was so scared. He had no clue what to say but the truth. This horrifying monster was holding him in the air and not even touching him. How. Why!? He blurted out the pure truth in fear “I don’t”, he coughed as the grip around Leia’s throat tightened “I don’t know what the force is!” He squeaked. Her hands raised to her, his? No, their throat.

“You… You must lie you just used it! Who trained you! Tell me NOW.”

He shook their head drearily. “I don’t know what you are saying, no one trained me! I am just a simple far… I mean Princess I don’t know what the force is. Please believe me.” Luke begged. Leia couldn’t want him getting her body killed. He didn’t want to die! 

The force constricting their neck didn’t tighten. It stayed in an almost contemplative pressure where it was. “I sense… you are both being truthful and lying.” The Lordly figure then threw them back against the bench and stalked toward the droid crashed on the floor, grabbing the vial of substance the droid had been carrying. “It is of no matter, you will tell me now of your Rebel and Jedi friends”

He stalked back over to them and pulled their arm out aggressively. Luke tried to pull it back and hide their veins. This was happening. This was really happening. “Please!” He begged. “Please I will tell you everything I know, please don’t… use that” he wanted no part of whatever horrifying drug was in that syringe. 

“Hold still.” The creature growled, its grip was much too hard for there to be a human hand under its glove. Quivering in fear Luke watched as it lowered the needle against their arm and pushed it in. They gasped softly at its entrance, but the worst part was when the syringe’s liquid started to be pushed in. The liquid inside felt like fire burning up their arm and vein, like they were being peeled apart by the veins. They whimpered in pain as it reached their heart. Crying out and then it stopped. All the pain stopped. They were… fine? The needle was pulled from their arm. A small droplet of blood left where it had injected her. 

His brain started to feel fuzzy. As though he were half here, half elsewhere. It didn’t feel like he was switching to his own body, it felt he was hovering over hers, hovering in a different dimension. 

Then it spoke, “I am your friend, you are safe.” Their mind spun, yes, they must be his friend, he was friends… that mask felt…familiar. 

“Friend…” he murmured, forgotting where he was or whose body he was in, “Friend who?”

“It is I. Darth Vader, your friend, a fellow rebel spy. We have worked together for many years.” The man spoke, finally giving his name.

“Vader….friend… yes. It feels… yes.” He murmured, it did feel true. Something in his soul sang when close to this monster and it was speaking calmly. Had he been wrong to fear it? 

“Yes. Yes, Who are you? what is your Job?”

“Luke… farmer…nooooooo Leia….. soft sheets. Princess. “ their head lulled back and forth and a bit of drool ran out of the corner of their mouth. 

A slight hint of irritation ended Vader’s voice “WHO IS LUKE!? Are you not Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan?” 

Luke shook his head “No…. not Leia.” Then looking up at his friend he felt the need to be truthful. Why did he want to be truthful? Because Vader was his friend. Yes “Not….” his tongue felt heavy, his body felt heavy, and even more, his mind felt heavy and disconnected.

“If you are not Leia then WHO are you? A Jedi? I am a Jedi too it’s ok you are safe with me.”

“Noooooo” Luke moaned.

“No? You are not a Jedi?” 

Nodding Luke thought about the sunny dunes near his home, how amazing it was to lay on them and watch the suns set. He didn’t know what a Jedi was. 

“Tell me your name friend, I thought you were Princess Leia Organa.’

“Yes.” Luke slurred. He was Leia. Sometimes he was Leia and she was Luke. But he was Luke too. Why couldn’t his friend understand? “Yes…. noooo. I…”

“You what? Are you Luke? Who is Luke?”

Luke felt sad, who was he? He was no one. He was the son of a dead spice runner, the nephew of a moisture farmer. Hanging his head he whispered, “Luke is no one.”

“Luke, everyone is someone, I am your friend, I care. Who are you, Luke. Tell me, it’s ok.”

“Luke… Luke is a farmer. I am a farmer….Tooshi station…. power converter.”

“Tooshi…. ARE YOU FROM TATOOINE?” Vader’s booming voice demanded much less gentle than his friend had sounded before.

Luke nodded in affirmation. Everything felt right. This was his friend, who he was, well that was not a secret because he was no one. 

“Wretched pile of sand and muck that hellhole never spares me” Vader mumbled under his breath.

“Where did you learn to use the Force Luke? Tell me.”

“Force… never heard of… force? What is force?” He muttered in a high and disjointed voice. Everything was feeling more and more blurry. 

The sound of a sharp hiss drew his blurry eyesight up, there held in hand was a bright red light. Ascending from a black hilt. Vader waved it close to Luke’s face, and he could FEEL the heat of it radiating off. He could hear the odd thrum of energy. “Have you ever seen one of these?” Vader purred. Drawing it inches from his skin. “They can cut a girl cleanly, cauterizing the skin behind, removing entire limbs…. the pain is unimaginable until you have experienced it.” 

Luke stared down in fear as he saw the blade approaching his arm “Your arm, You feel the blade sinking into it, the smell of your flesh and your burning senate robes filling your nose. It stops, you could save your arm from total removal if you speak of your Master, of the force, all you have to do is tell me. I will save your arm. I am your friend!” Luke screamed in pain as the nerves near the edge of his arm were seared and every synapse of his being cried out in pain. Tears welled to his, no her eyes. It was all too confusing. Was he Luke or Luke in Leia’s body? Looking down he saw himself… his own tan skin and white soft top being burned. Feeling the heat of the saber threatening to further cauterize him, But how could that be he was in Leia’s body? Wasn’t he?

He shook his head, trying to knock his mind back into reality. This must be a dream it couldn’t be real! _Skywalker, something is not right here think, think!_ He loudly thought to himself, hoping he would hear.

A loud yell of anger seized through Vader’s throat and the lightsaber retracted, somehow no longer next to his arm despite the pain and wound still being there. “Skywalker!? Where did you hear that name!?” He demanded.

Luke was in too much pain and brain fuzz to respond and just moaned. 

“You are Luke Skywalker?” The voice questioned, and Luke felt ever so compelled to answer.

“Ahhhhh yes ahhhggg.” He moaned 

Vader shook his head as though in disbelief. 

“If I didn’t see you here, feel you here with my own eyes I would never believe this BOY. Who is your father? Tell me!”

The pain caught his tongue once more and all Luke could moan was “Annnnnn ug “ and wheeze in a breath.

“WHO? TELL ME NOW! You are no longer in pain, your mind is clear. Speak your truth now!”

Suddenly Luke was back in Leia’s body and fine again. He didn’t know what this was and how he got here but it was a whole new world of trickery and he didn’t like it one bit, but for some reason, he still felt an overwhelming compulsion to answer Darth Vader. Those drugs must have been pretty powerful in that vial.

“Anakin was my Father.” He whispered. “He was the best pilot in the galaxy. He died before I was born.”

Vader shook and Luke felt like he could FEEL the anger coming off of Vader and enveloping him as the man spoke in barely contained hatred “I think… Skywalker. That it would have been much better for you if we never met. We will discuss this at a later date, for now, I must find our Princess.”

He turned and stormed away out of the Cell leaving Luke confused and alone. He didn’t know what had just happened. But for some reason, his Father had caused Vader to leave him alone, and as the drugs wore off he quickly realized how much of a curse this switched really was. He wanted his own body back and post-haste.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift to the lovely and talented [DotColorful](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DotColorful/pseuds/DotColorful), my muse, my dark devil on my shoulder. My shoulder to cry on. One of the best friends I have right now in these terrible times. She is doing a hard thing today, and being brave, so this is for her as a reward. I hope you enjoy dear. jesteś najwspanialszą ze wszystkich królowych lodu. kocham cię i doceniam
> 
> This idea came to me by the FATHER, I don’t particularly know why. A friend reminded me that it had many similarities to “Your Name” which maybe the trope of that is what has led me to write this subconsciously. 
> 
> Thank you to Spell and the misery we shared a few hours ago for the lightsaber bit.
> 
> So, what do people think? Should I write more straight from where it is at? Should I write ficlets of random moments of switch and not have continuity? Should there be continuity? Let me know in the comments!]
> 
> PS this is also for an Angst Bingo I am doing. :)


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